Monday, 29 September 2014

And so the much
anticipated day of the next Herefordshire Big VBCW Game dawned. Months of planning,
scenario writing, painting, badgering for responses, scenery building (and then some!), hall booking, badgering for responses, rule
modifying, handing out of ‘extras’, badgering for responses, curry ordering, and general herding of cats
came to fruition.

The cutting near Titley.

Once again
we had enough players (15) to warrant three large tables, two representing the
strategic railway junctions of Titley and Eardisley and one representing
Longtown.

Eardisley Station (behind brick wall) and environs.

An uneasy
coalition of Anglican League, Welsh Nationalist and Socialist platoons were tasked
with taking these positions from the defending Royalists, Fascists and local
gentry.

Longtown, with castle ruins in the centre.

We had
pretty much dressed the Eardisley and Longtown tables the night before, but the
Titley table was left blank until Roo and his freshly constructed scenery arrived.
I say ‘scenery’, what I really mean is ‘behemoth’…

Defending the cutting.

For Roo had
knocked up a massive construct – a hill through which ran a railway cutting,
crowned by a bridge. Complete with trees, fields, hedges and animals, this really
was a work of art! I will say this now at the risk of repeating myself later on
– bravo Roo!

Royalist rear.

Together
with Roo’s King’s Colonials, I had the honour of defending this hill with a
platoon of Hereford Territorials and some local militia. Advancing against us
were two platoons of Welsh Nationalists (including the cross-dressing ‘Daughters of Rebecca’) and a platoon of Socialists.

Digging in along the ridge.

And so we
dug in - the Colonials holding positions from our right flank (bordered by a
stream) up to and along the bridge, while my locals bordered the bridge and occupied
the ridge of the hill down to the left flank.

The Colonials get into position.

My main
position was taken up by a section of Territorials, an HMG team, anti-tank
rifle, sniper and artillery observer. The hedge line running down to the flank
was held by a section of local militia. Behind these groups I placed a second
section of Territorials to act as a stiffener, while to the rear behind the
hill I placed my artillery and a section of local Royalist cavalry, ready to
charge at an opportune moment.

Artillery ready for action.

On came the
enemy – the Welsh platoons advancing on our left and centre, the Socialist
platoon on the right on the other side of the stream.

Ranging shot.

We zeroed in
our artillery, knocking lumps out of the advancing Welsh in the centre and
slowing down the Socialists on the right flank. While their countrymen
sheltered behind hedges, a section of Welsh ascended the hill, advancing
bravely but withering under the fire from my Territorials. Soon only their
morale officer remained, who my sniper persistently failed to pick off! This
individual quickly scarpered – sniper bullets flying wide. I must admit I was
not sorry when my sniper was eventually hit!

Welsh advance up the centre - mind the sheep!

This was but
a prelude however, as the other Welsh platoon came forward on my left, complete
with armoured cars and those fearless ‘Daughters’. My anti-tank rifle failed to
deal with the cars, and was soon put out of action as the Taffs fired on my
left-centre positions.

Attack on my left flank.

The local
militia soon began to waver, so I pulled them back and replaced them with the
second Territorial section. With the Welsh centre going to ground I was able to
shuffle my observer team to the left and with new co-ordinates my artillery
soon began making holes in this fresh advance.

Reserves replace the shaken militia.

With one
armoured car knocked out the Welsh responded by targeting the spotters, quickly
wiping them out alongside the HMG team who were also causing much damage. My
artillery was blinded, and reduced to covering over open sights the gap where
the railway cutting bisected the hill. This was of little advantage as the
enemy simply kept out of the narrow field of fire.

Welsh in the centre keep their heads down.

The
firefight was fierce as the Welsh flank attack climbed the slope. With their nerves
settled the militia re-joined the firefight on the extreme left and the Welsh
ranks began to thin out. However with the spotters gone I had no effective
answer to the remaining armoured cars as they trundled forward in low gear,
firing over the heads of the cross-dressing infantry.

Militia reform as the cavalry wait to pounce.

My
Territorials still held their nerve but the medic, standard bearer and HQ team
could only do so much to keep them together as numbers dwindled. With the
attack on the left losing it’s punch the Welsh in the centre came on once
again, their infantry and armoured car firing at the remainder of my men.

Artillery spotters do their job before paying the price.

On right,
the King’s Colonials were having a cooler time of it. The Socialists seemed
content to stay on their side of the stream after a taste of Imperial
firepower, while the Welsh in the centre, after trading a few shots,
concentrated on my positions.

Socialists crawl along the other flank.

Luckily this
left Roo with plenty of reserves to plug the holes in my line while I did what
I could with the remainder of my infantry and readied my cavalry for a glorious
last-ditch charge on my far left. However time was running out and the day
drawing to a close. It was obvious that to fight on would be folly, and so I
pulled back my troops. The cavalry would cover the cutting alongside the artillery
while the tattered infantry, beefed up with the South African section, would
descend the hill and take up new defensive positions in the farm behind us.

Fresh attack in the centre.

The Welsh
came over the crest of the hill and traversed the bridge as we fell back,
exposing themselves to direct fire from our artillery and the largely undamaged
Colonials. If the game had continued they would soon have paid the price for
their advance.

Tactical withdrawal to new positions.

At Eardisley
the Anglican League successfully took the railway station from the Royalist/BUF
defenders, despite (or perhaps because of) poor weather, Fascist air support
and an armoured counterattack.

The Welsh take the crest.

At Longtown
Sir Gilbert and his temporary Socialist allies trudged through the mud from a
heavy downpour and amid the traffic chaos could make little headway against the local gentry holed up
in the ruins of Longtown Castle.

The rebels taking Eardisley Station.

I was disappointed
that my attempts to factor in the effects of fuel and ammunition shortages didn’t
work – my rule amendments were simply too complicated to stand up to the test
of gameplay and were abandoned after a few turns, but it was always going to be
an experiment so you live and learn. Next time I think such factors will
instead affect the scenario and platoon generation, rather than being forced
through unnecessary rule mods.

The gentry hold Longtown.

However this failure
was but a minor niggle, as this was yet another brilliant day’s gaming with
some thoroughly decent chaps! Fair-minded gameplay, great miniatures and models
and some stunning scenery were the order of the day, and I think everyone went home
from what was a very enjoyable bash.

So the
anti-government coalition has been partially successful – taking Eardisley station
but not quite managing Titley Junction. Thus a portion of the railway line from
Hay is under their control, but they still do not have the uninterrupted supply
line they so desperately need.

Socialists stalled.

The forces
of government have denied the rebels their lifeline, but at great cost. Their
foes are now established along the Welsh border as well as to the south. Will
Whitehall finally sit up and take notice of this backwater as the rebellion spreads?

Reform!

The neutral
gentry and their fiefdoms have had a shock. Although prevailing this time
around those bordering the Black Mountains are surrounded by rebel factions.
The Landowners’ Protection Association is proving to be a paper tiger and each
estate must soon decide whose side they are on…

More Twiggy Mommet scarecrow protesters in the form of Blind Beggar's hooded cultists...

These were given a quick paintjob in readiness for last Saturday's Big Game (more of which in my next post). However, as most of our regular Big Gamers know better than to mess with any item of terrain with a scarecrow on it, these guys did not get a chance to grace the tables.

Blind Beggar is a small project run by 'Mason' of LAF fame, and these cultists are part of his first experiments with putty. They look nice and creepy (especially the little girl going 'shhhhh...')

A couple of the figures don't have hoods, so I splodged some Greenstuff on their faces and hid the join with a hat, but otherwise these are painted as is.

Tuesday, 16 September 2014

It’s been a bit quiet around here recently, hasn't it? Well
on top of the usual real life things that get in the way of playing with toys,
I've also been busy getting ready for the next Herefordshire Big Game; to be
held at Burley Gate Village Hall on Saturday 27th September.

We like to do something different for each big game, and
this time around we are looking at factoring in shortages. The logic behind
this is that with civil war raging, supplies of fuel and ammunition would be
disrupted, leading to shortages and rationing. To this end we’re trying out
some house rules that oblige players to roll for fuel and ammo, with an option
to resupply via dumps and runners when they run out.

This in turn led me to look at knocking up some models to
reflect this situation – e.g. supply vehicles, runners and supply dumps.

Luckily, on top of a nice Dragon Artillery Tractor from
Reiver Castings, I also had a mule and wagon that had I cadged off Very British
Civil Forum member ‘Staffie’, and a spare Sikh HMG team that I acquired second hand
from the Lead Adventure Forum.

The Dragon tractor was quickly assembled and painted, and
the mule and wagon cobbled together in what I hope is somewhere near a correct
fashion (with the addition of some thin ply and cocktail sticks to finish it
off).

The supply dump was mainly scratchbuilt – cardboard for the
crates and small pointy rubber bungs for the shells (massively over scale but
still quite cool looking I think). I then added some bits from the HMG set and
a 1/32 Tamiya jerry can. The whole thing fits onto the back of the wagon quite
nicely.

Both the wagon driver and the runner are Sikh HMG crew with
headswaps and a bit of filing here and there. The third member has already been
utilised as a Royalist bomber (second from the left in the photo below), and will stand in as the second runner on the
day.

Just over a week to go until the big game, and with some
awesome pieces of terrain under construction and some challenging yet (hopefully)
playable supply issues, it’s shaping up to be a good ‘un!

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Some organisations featured in the VBCW universe possess extreme right-wing or left-wing political views. I do not subscribe to these views, nor do I wish to promulgate them. Basically, this blog is essentially a work of fiction and no offence is intended.